A week after Jefferson R-7 School District Superintendent Clint Johnston began a leave of absence, parents and students are seeking information about the reason.
A group calling itself Concerned Citizens of R-7 on Monday tried to file recall petitions seeking to remove three Jefferson R-7 Board of Education members from office – Tracey Perry, Natalie Fallert and Heather Schnitzler – claiming each “has shown herself to be unwilling or unable to represent the voice of her constituents.”
However, the group was met with a serious roadblock.
“There is no statutory process for the recall of school board members,” said Kelli Hopkins, an attorney with the Missouri School Boards Association.
Jefferson County Clerk Ken Waller said he checked with Hopkins and several other sources and agrees with the conclusion.
“I received their notice of intent to circulate the petitions, with all the signed affidavits and everything in order,” he said. “But after checking with three sources, I had to find them to be not valid, because there is no legal mechanism to do a recall in this situation.”
Lynne Jackson, a former R-7 school board member and one of the petition organizers, said the Concerned Citizens group is frustrated about not getting any answers about Johnson’s sudden leave.
“We don’t know what is going on,” she said. “We know our superintendent is on leave, but we don’t know why, or for how long, or whether it was voluntary. We are being stonewalled at every turn.”
A letter was sent out to Jefferson R-7 staff and parents on April 17 announcing that Danby-Rush Tower Middle School principal Cindy Holdinghausen had been named interim superintendent.
In the letter, Holdinghausen said neither she nor the board could share any specific information about Johnston’s leave but assured patrons and staff that “there are no concerns related to the safety or well-being of any district student or employee.”
Attempts to contact Holdinghausen, both in person and by phone, have been unsuccessful, and Johnston, also, could not be reached for comment.
Wayne Surratt, who was elected the school board president on April 16, declined to answer any questions about Johnston’s leave.
“All the information the district is able to release on the matter at this time is in the memo Mrs. Holdinghausen sent out to students and families,” he said April 18.
He would not answer questions about how long Johnston is expected to be on leave or whether he’s being paid while on leave.
“I am not at liberty to comment further,” he said April 18.
Since then, he has not returned calls for comment.
The Leader sent a Sunshine Law request to the district, asking for information about any vote pertaining to Johnston at the April 16 closed meeting, and the district sent back a response stating the requested information is “not subject to disclosure” and “will not be produced.”
The letter went on to say, “The Board did not vote to hire, fire, promote or discipline the district’s superintendent at its April 16 meeting or at any other time.”
Jackson said her group is also seeking answers.
“We aren’t asking for specific information,” she said. “We understand the concept of confidentiality.
“But, look; if they say they didn’t fire him or discipline him, yet he’s gone – what the heck did happen? If there is something going on that rises to the level of some kind of action taken against our superintendent, we deserve to know what’s going on. If it’s that serious, they owe us some information.”
A board divided
Former board member Jon Eisenbeis, who chose not to run for a third term on April 2, characterized the board over the past few months as “contentious.” He said there is a clear division between Perry, Fallert, Schnitzler and Surratt on one side and Jimmy Jackson, former president Kelly Becherer and new member Shane Wolk, along with Johnston, on the opposite side.
“It was a constant battle,” Eisenbeis said. “Every meeting, with anything to do with Clint.
“It was relentless and kind of scornful. We’re doing millions of dollars in construction and renovations, we have all these great programs being put in place, and they spent so much time on little niggling things to annoy him.”
And yet, Eisenbeis said, the board recently gave Johnston a glowing performance review. Johnston has two years remaining on his contract.
“He had a very good evaluation, with very high marks, in late January or February,” Eisenbeis said. “There were no problem areas identified about the way he communicates. None of the things they’re complaining about now were brought up then.
“He was praised for everything he did up until Tuesday night (April 16). If Clint Johnston did something wrong, it is a total surprise to me.”
In light of Johnston’s sudden absence, rumors have spread throughout the community, particularly on social media.
Perry, who also serves on the County Council (District 5-Festus), said some of those comments on social media have unfairly targeted her and other board members.
“It’s amazing that one piece of paper comes out that says Mr. Johnston is on administrative leave, and it triggers a mob,” Perry said. “As a parent and a resident, this is unacceptable. There have been threats, property damage. I’m this close to getting a restraining order.”
Perry noted that the school has pushed its “Be a Better Bystander” theme, seeking to teach students responsible online behavior and curb bullying.
“This is a terrible example of cyber bullying,” she said.
“We have to protect Mr. Johnston’s privacy,” Perry added. “No one knows who voted for what. They need to wait until the time comes when it can all come out. They just need to be patient and trust the system.”
Jackson condemned any negative actions district patrons may have directed at school officials.
“We are appalled at the thought someone would do anything like that,” she said. “It’s not coming from anyone within our group; that’s not the way we get things done. It’s not the Blue Jay way.”
Consequences
Members of the Concerned Citizens group said they are worried the situation will result in unnecessary expense to the district.
“My fear is the board ends up buying out the rest of Mr. Johnston’s contract,” former longtime board member Drew Null said. “That could end up costing us half a million dollars.”
There are other, non-financial considerations, Null added.
“I’m concerned about the timing,” he said. “We have our MAP testing, graduation. The student body is in an upheaval, and there’s just no information for them.”
Null was involved in a similar situation about 10 years ago, when a divided board was one of the factors behind the resignation of Tom Guenzler, Johnston’s predecessor.
“I thought we had moved past that kind of thing,” Null said. “But obviously, this board doesn’t learn from history.”
He said the absence of information about Johnston’s leave has led district patrons to make assumptions.
“We don’t know anything at all, but the way it looks to people is like the board is attempting to hide what they’re doing from the public.”
Jackson said the Concerned Citizens group will have to re-strategize now that it’s clear there’s no method to recall board members.
“That changes the direction of our effort,” she said. “We will continue to insist Mrs. Perry should step down because of conflict of interest (serving on both the County Council and the R-7 school board), and we will continue to press for more transparency from the board as a whole.”
Jackson said the group also would try to work with legislators to formulate a statute to enable school board recalls.
“As far as we can tell, there is no way – unless they do something that rises to the level of a prosecutable offense – to remove a board member from office,” she said.
Jackson said the ideal solution would be for Johnston’s leave to be ended.
“It would be great for the board to meet, discuss this, admit they made a mistake, and reinstate Clint Johnston without prejudice,” she said. “That’s what the committee wants.”
The school board was scheduled to hold a special closed meeting Tuesday, after the Leader deadline, and district patrons said they planned to attend.